Help, aftermarket setup sounds terrible.

[Retroflect]

You said that they installed a jl400/4 driving the front 3 ways and the rears,correct?The black plug down by the factory amp in the kick panel has the low level preouts you want.

Correct, a channel per speaker from the amp. However, if the tones (seatbelt, alerts, BLIS...) aren't even playing out of the speakers anymore maybe I should do like SergeyMelnik said and just wire up the front 3 ways with 2 channels each for more power and clarity?

Ask OEM radio if he has the harness finished yet for this plug.

I've sent him a few PMs with the latest being about the new plug harness he was working on that you mentioned.

Give us some more info as to where the amp is mounted,and how they wired the speakers to the crossovers.We will get this sorted out,promise.

I'm going to call tomorrow and try and get the details from the tech who did the install. All I can say for now is that the amp is located in the trunk where the spare tire would go as the 15s didn't come with one so that spot was available. Thanks again.

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[Racemaster]

I did not loose any seatbelt or phone sounds.I did loose the center speaker,but it does not do anything needed.
As far as bridging the channels for more power,yes your amp will take it but your speakers will not.They are 80 watts rms and that amp puts out 75 @ 4 ohms.
Please take some pictures and post them so we can see what they did.Take pictures of the amp and the crossovers please.I hope they did not cut the harness up,so if you do get oem's it will still plug in.
I am thinking that if you get the harness and it plugs right in, then you can run rca cables back to the amp,and get rid of the lc7.The sub will need its own amp,or you could ditch the rear kenwood speakers and use those other channels bridged for that.
I used the 6 channel amp,2 channels power the back,2 power the door woofs,and 2 power the mids/tweets.

See what you can find out tomorrow from them.

 

[Retroflect]

Alright, I'll get the pictures tomorrow as well. It's too dark at the apt tonight. I'll also call and get the info on the setup. I'll stay positive about it lol.

 

[Retroflect]

I'm told the LC7 processor is taking the existing signal, caught after the stock amp, and running it via rca to the aftermarket amp.
The JL 400x4 is then running straight to the speakers.
The crossovers are at a -3 and are filtering frequency for the speakers. The signals caught are high level which I'm told was the need for the processor.
I'm told the head unit harness molex cable was cut to wire to the amp. I was a little unclear on that one, though it was said it was possible to go back to stock still.

I've gotta do a quick job this afternoon, and after that I will get pictures of the install and post them for you guys.

 

[Retroflect]

Here are the right crossovers under the passenger kick panel.

 

[Retroflect]

Here is the amp install in located in the spare tire area. (The rags are just so I didn't introduce more rattles than the car already has.)

 

[Retroflect]

Amp settings:

 

[Retroflect]

Left crossover mounted on top of processor, located under driver kick panel.

 

[Retroflect]

The black plug down by the factory amp in the kick panel has the low level preouts you want.

Is this the black plug on driver side you were referring to?

 

[Retroflect]

I know these pictures are crap, please let me know what specifically I can get you guys a better look at. And apologies for the upside down amp pics, I'm trying to figure how to upload it with the correct orientation.

 

[Racemaster]

No,that plug is the OBD2 connector.The plug I was referring to is on the bottom of the factory amp.It is above the kickpanel,the aluminum looking thing with the fins.It should have 3 plugs in the bottom going into it.The black one has low level pre-outs that you can use to go back to the jl amp.
How did they connect the lc7?I see the wires,but where did they tap in?
Also,in the back,the rca cables should never be that close to the power wires.They look decent,but always have a chance of picking up noise.You said a car stereo shop did this install?I would think they know better,as that is car audio ABC.
If you are not handy to make your own cable from the molex plug,then oem radios deal is your best bet.You get the harness,and the obd2 programmer to get rid of the factory processing.You would then connect his harness right into the rca cables that they have run already.The lc7 would be gone as it not needed any longer.
The amp switches get flipped to low input,and then you set the output gains with a test tone a volt meter.
Its fixable,its just going to take abit of work.Dont give up just yet.

 

[mumbles]

Is this the black plug on driver side you were referring to?

As Racemaster said, that is the OBDII plug... The amp is that silver finned thing behind that jumble of zip-tied wires in the photo.

 

[Retroflect]

Should I bypass the factory amp to avoid some of the processing? Are there any reasons not to do that, such as loosing features? I understand the shaker sub signal (I left the shaker sub/amp combo installed) could be created by the factory amp, or is it the head unit?

Either that or follow racemasters advice and have them pull the signal direct from the factory amp for a clip free signal using the diagram he was gracious enough to find for me.

 

[Racemaster]

You need to get the harness/programmer combo from oem first.Hook your new amp up with your new speakers.Leave the old amp connected the factory way to power the factory sub.Otherwise you need another amp for the subwoofer.Your headunit right now has the low level outputs.They just pulled the high levels from the factory amp,giving you a shitty sounding signal.
Hook his harness up to the rca's that are up front already,switch the amp to low level input,and reset the voltage on the amp with a test signal.Do all of that first.Then you can go on to loading the processor file and cleaning up some of the wiring.Baby steps.

Harness first,,,get that lc7 out of there and see how it sounds.Here is the link

http://www.infotainment.com/collect...ucts/ford-aftermarket-amplifier-audio-harness

 

[Retroflect]

You need to get the harness/programmer combo from oem first.Hook your new amp up with your new speakers.Leave the old amp connected the factory way to power the factory sub.Otherwise you need another amp for the subwoofer.Your headunit right now has the low level outputs.They just pulled the high levels from the factory amp,giving you a shitty sounding signal.
Hook his harness up to the rca's that are up front already,switch the amp to low level input,and reset the voltage on the amp with a test signal.Do all of that first.Then you can go on to loading the processor file and cleaning up some of the wiring.Baby steps.

Harness first,,,get that lc7 out of there and see how it sounds.Here is the link

http://www.infotainment.com/collect...ucts/ford-aftermarket-amplifier-audio-harness

Awesome info, thank you for the amazing support. Might this be the harness I'm looking for? http://www.infotainment.com/collections/installation-components/products/ford-aftermarket-amplifier-audio-harness

I know I've asked an enormous amount of questions, I greatly appreciate it!

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